Somewhere Over the Rainbow: What a Wonderful World
by ProudDyspraxicWriter
Summary: Just a story about Lemony Snicket and R, the Duchess of Winnipeg :D Pre-series.


**I was inspired by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's rendition of these two particular songs. I am very sorry but this is _incredibly_ cheesy. It sounded better in my head, I guess. Also, if anyone is a fan Lemony/R fan, please contact me. It feels like I'm the only one!**

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: What a Wonderful World

Prologue

Backstage it was, quite surprisingly, chaos. Students of all different ages were reciting their lines and laughing nervously with their friends. One girl was even weeping over the fact that she had forgotten to learn her lines. But R had practiced for weeks on end. She and her friends, Lemony, Beatrice and Bertrand were confident that she was going to get a part in the musical. But one bleached-blonde bimbo was about to dash that dream.

" Oh, hello, _R_," Esme said with her two giggling friends standing behind her like boyguards. " I bet you're hoping to get the part of Dorothy, right? Poor little R, head's in the clouds again."

" Leave her alone," Lemony snarled.

" God, R's so stupid and _untalented_ that she won't even get a part of a talking tree! There's no way the teacher's gonna even like you!" Esme stated. " Everybody knows I'm the best at _everything._"

Laughing cruelly, the bully and her friends went away, making offensive jokes about the redheaded tomboy. She sat down on a chair and let her head fall into her hands as she began to cry. Her friends looked at one another and grimaced.

" Don't cry, R. You deserve it a lot more than _Esme_," Beatrice cried. " She's just a spoilt brat."

" I can't do it, guys. She's right. She's better than me."

Lemony shook his head. " No. You can't believe that. If you want this bad enough, do it! Look at me, I'm writing a novel and not once have I given up."

R sniffed and looked up. " Suppose you're right. I want it!"

" Get your butt out there then!" Bertrand added. R stood up, determined.

" Right, thank you, Esme. That was an interesting performance," Mr. O cried to the young teenage hopeful who was confidently standing on the stage. Then the acting teacher turned to his assistant and whispered, " I think we've got our wicked witch," in his ear. " You can go now. Next up is R! Come on up, sweetie."

Grinning from ear to ear, R clumsily made her way up to the steps leading to the stage. Shooting a nervous glance at her friends, they all gave her the thumbs up for support. She let out a whimper of pure fear. The lights blinded her and she could only make out the shadows of her teacher and his assistant. Her knees began buckling.

" Which character are you auditioning for, Miss. Winnipeg?" Mr. O asked.

" Um…Uh…Uh-uh-um!"

Without any warning, Lemony dashed up to rescue the stuttering fairytale maiden. " Don't look at them! Look at me instead."

R nodded slowly, hesitant to obey her best friend's command. " I'm auditioning for the part of Dorothy," she cried in a loud confident voice, her gaze never leaving Lemony's warm and soft brown eyes. She grinned in thanks. " I'll be singing Over the Rainbow."

" In your own time."

" Your own time, R," Lemony repeated.

She beamed again as she stepped closer to the microphone. Breathing deeply, she pursed her lips together. Then, like a bird, she set her unearthly beautiful voice free and there was no need to look at Lemony anymore. " Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high. There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere the rainbow, skies are blue and the dreams you dare to dream really do come true. Someday I'll wish upon a star, wake up where the clouds are far behind me." She stopped, breathing heavily, after belting out all she had.

Mr. O and his assistant didn't want to admit that they had tears in their eyes. So did Lemony. Laughing like a carefree child, R jumped into his arms. He caged her in his grip and stroked her hair. She rested her head on his shoulder and they both closed their eyes for a few moments. Lemony squeezed out a lonesome tear. All her intense practicing had paid off.

" It was so nice what you did today, L," Beatrice proclaimed when the quartet were walking home later that day.

" Yeah, that was brilliant. I wouldn't have done that if it was B auditioning!" guffawed Bertrand, which resulted in Beatrice giving her boyfriend a dirty look.

R grinned and slipped her small delicate hand into the hand of the young man beside her. He didn't pull away, like he usually did. His grin matched R's. " He's my knight in shining armour!"

The others looked at one another, stifling giggles. " Um, we're just going to go on ahead if you don't mind." Lemony nodded subtly, so did R, but they never lost contact. " OK, come on, BB!"

Once they had gone, R held Lemony's face and caressed his cheek. And there is no real need to say how romantic their first kiss was, because love is something you have to experience to know what it feels like.

A month later, the roles were being announced at last. The cast list of the play was pinned up on the bulletin board on the wall of the common room. When the hopeful actors saw it, it was like the last-minute shop before Christmas. Everyone wanted to get there first which caused terrible shouting, pushing, kicking and even biting.

" All right! Scarecrow!"

" Aunt Em, that's not so bad!"

" Oh, my God! I got Glinda! I'm Glinda!"

" Great, I'm a goddamn flying monkey!"

" The Cowardly Lion? What the fudge cake?!"

" What part did you get, R?" Beatrice asked the Dorothy wannabe.

" I don't know. I didn't have the heart to look at it."

Her friend smirked. " Go on, think about L and you'll be fine."

And so R searched for her name. Being the main character, Dorothy was listed at the top and next to it was the actress who was going to play her. She pushed her way through the crowd to tell her friend the result. Her usual cheesy beam had vanished from her face but Beatrice hoped it was a display of extraordinary skill.

" I'm not even a stinking Munchkin. I'm not in it. Esme got the part!" she muttered. She lowered her eyes and they became clouded with tears.

Beatrice's heart sank. " Oh, honey! It's all right!" She opened her arms and was ready to give R a friendly, supportive hug.

R gave a disheartened look. " I'll go tell Lemony. He'd want to hear it from me."

She ran out into the sunshine and climbed up the steep hill on the playing field. Among the overcrowded trees that were stood at the peak was their secret place. That was where they could get away from the malicious world and make up their own. Lemony was already there. Squatted beneath the comfort of an oak tree, he was scribbling away in his journal, hoping his story would turn into something great. R grinned, blushing with embarrassment. As much as she loved to watch him, she couldn't help but feel that she was putting him off. Just as his brain began to grow weary, he snapped the book shut and pocketed it. He was smiling. He too was anticipating the results.

" Are you Dorothy yet?" he joked.

R shook her head and puffed out her cheeks in a sigh. " E got the part. I'm not even in it!" and finally, she burst into tears. Lemony embraced her. " I wish there was some club where we could get rid of people like Esme. It would be so wonderful. There would no more bullies to pick on us – no bullies at all! That's what I want for our children." She paused to smile a sad smile. " I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom for me and you. I see skies of blue and clouds of white. I see friends shaking hands saying, 'how do you do?', they're really saying, 'I love you.' I hear babies crying, I watch them grow. They'll learn much more than I'll ever know, and I think to myself 'what a wonderful world.'"

R's dream of such a club did come true. It didn't last long. Now all we see is the horrific villains running rampant, starting fires, killing innocent people, running away with fortunes that were not initially theirs. I believed in R's dream and helped her through terrible times and good to see VFD become a reality. But of course, if you have read my tridecalogy of the Baudelaire orphans, you and I know a world like R's cannot exist because it's such a large and frightening place.


End file.
